Demon
by I love Neville
Summary: A young Hungary discovers Prussia in the woods, beat up and bleeding. He refuses to explain why, but he has a simple question for her. "Eli... am I a demon?" (hints of PruHun, if you squint. CONTINUED DUE TO REQUEST- almost all the chapters will have to do with Gil's albinism in some way)
1. Demon

There were drips of blood in the snow. They started out small, and got bigger the further Hungary went along.

She wasn't exactly sure why she was following the trail of blood, other than simple curiosity, and a desire for food. She was hoping to find an injured animal she could kill easily for dinner- hunting was harder in this cold weather, and she didn't want to lose more arrows than were completely necessary. And besides, her chest hurt, and she was afraid she was coming down with something. It was better not to exhaust herself.

Ah, there it was! A mess of white fur, stained with blood. But the animal was rather big, and almost huma-

Oh. _A fene egye meg_, it was Prussia. She sighed and lowered her weapon, making her way over to the boy. He must have gotten into a fight- a bad one, by the looks of it.

"Hé, te idióta, ki vert meg téged? she laughed, speaking in her native tongue. To her surprise, her friend looked up at her in complete terror, fear that didn't quite fade, even when he registered who was addressing him.

"Is anyone wiz you?" he asked in his thick accent, in a surprisingly high pitched voice. His ruby eyes darted from side to side, as if expecting an attack. And, to be frank, she wouldn't be shocked if he was. His small body was badly bruised, purple and blue and green, and a large cut matted his silver hair in crimson blood. His eyes were blacked and his nose was bloody. He was burned, too, which was the most disgusting, some burns still red and raw and leaking blood and pus.

The other nation shook her head. "No, I'm alone. What happened to you? You get in a fight?"

"Of course I got in a fight! Vhat else would have happened? You zink I vould let myself get beaten up?" he laughed, but it was shrill and forced, instead of his normal annoying "kesese."

Eli's eyes furrowed in concern and she sat next to the albino. "I wasn't thinking it, but now I am. A-are you crying?"

"Nein! It- it's just liquid amazing trying to escape my body. I guess I have too much!" he grinned, and he almost seemed normal for a moment, but then he looked away and sniffled, still trying to hide it.

Her eyes narrowed and the pit of her stomach burned. "Who did this?"

"Nobody you know," he said quickly, refusing to meet her gaze.

Well, that was bullshit. Even if she didn't know them personally, she knew of every other country, and she'd recognise the name. She told him so, and he simply looked away, muttering something unintelligible.

"What was that?"

"I-I never said it vas another country..."

Her green eyes widened in shock- she certainly hadn't expected that. "A human? Why would a human want to hurt you? And how did one hurt you this bad? You're a lot stronger than any human, we all are."

He shifted uncomfortably, and her heart sank. "Gilbert... how many humans were there?"

"A whole- a whole village, basically. Not ze kids, at least, or not most of them... Und a lot of the women didn't participate..."

"A whole _village?!_ Were they trying to _kill_ you?!"

Gilbert's silence was enough of an answer.

"What. Did. You. _Do?!_"

He looked away, playing with the snow, deliberately ignoring her. He seemed lost in thought, struggling to spit something out. Then, instead of answering, he asked, "Eli... am I a demon?"

"_What?_" the question was so prosperous and out of the blue, she didn't know how to answer.

"A demon. Hellspawn. Y'know, like ze devil a-an' shit. Am I?" He looked at her desperately, red eyes boring into the green. His tears were more obvious now, and there was no mistaking them for anything else. "A-answer me honestly."

"Who gave you that idea?"

"J-just answer ze question!"

"No!" she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "You're a pain in the ass and an idiot, but you're not a demon!"

He looked relieved, but also unsure. "Y'mean it?"

Now she was aggravated. "_Yes_, I mean it! Why would you think otherwise? You ego finally get to you, give you delusions of grandeur or some shit?"

"No, shit head! It's my eyes... und my hair. Lotsa people tell me zat zey're not natural... zey're ze vork of ze devil... I mean, y'ever seen another human viz red eyes and silver hair?"

"Prussia, you _tökfej_, we're not human!"

"Yeah, but you all look like you are! I don't! I... I look like some freak."

A heavy realization hit Elizaveta. "Is this why the humans were trying to kill you?"

He nodded numbly. "Zey said I vas possessed by Satan. I tried to explain zat I vasn't- I'm a _Teutonic Knight_, I vork for God, not ze devil! I even vent zrough an exorcism, Eli! But my eyes und hair didn't change, and zey decided... Zat ze only vay to rid me of Satan vas to burn him out of me..."

Eli's brow furrowed. "Does this happen a lot?"

"Vell, zey've never tried to burn me at ze stake before, but..."

So that's where the burns had come from. She felt very queasy all of a sudden. "You could have told me."

He shrugged. "I can handle it. Vhy vould you vant to help a freak, anyvay?"

"You're my friend, Gilbert! And you're not a freak, you're..." she searched for a word that described the albino, only able to come up with a lame, "awesome."

His eyes flickered towards her, and he smiled, a bit disbelieving. "Really? I'm awesome?"

"Yeah! You're totally awesome, Prussia. Who else could win so many battles and defeat a whole damn village? And your eyes and hair aren't a curse, they're.. well, they're awesome, too!" she smiled at him, hoping to reassure the normally cocky boy.

He grinned, more certain, and dried all his tears away. "Ja... I- I'm awesome!" he cackled, his laugh returning to his normal "kesesese." As the boy grinned and declared himself "The most awesome ever!" Eli briefly wondered what sort of monster she had created by introducing that word to him.

She supposed he'd get tired of it eventually. Anyway, him spouting his awesomeness to the world was much better than him wondering if he even deserved to be on earth.

"Hey, y'know, you're pretty awesome too, Eli! After all, only an awesome person could remind the awesome me that I'm awesome."

The complement was a bit backhanded, but at the moment, she could care less. Her Gil was back.

_A fene egye meg- damn it!_

___Hé, te idióta, ki vert meg téged?_- Hey, idiot, who beat you up?

___tökfej_- dolt

**Ugh, this is sappy and OOC and I have two other fanfics to work on- I haven't worked on Proposals in forever, sorry- but this idea wouldn't get out of my head until I wrote it down, so...**

* * *

**EDIT- Thank you to Lothlorian93 for fixing my Hungarian mistakes. **

**Also- Since a few people have wanted it, this story will be expanded. Not all chapters will be PruHun based, and a few that take place in the future (i.E. present day or 1800's, 1900's, etc,) may include Austria and mention Hungary's marriage to him, but the pairing is still going to be PruHun, not AusHun or PruAus. (there'll probably be other pairings to the side, too.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Holy Rome

**Okay, so here's how this is gonna go. I got a few requests to continue this story, and I'll admit I was a bit stumped on how. You can only write the same scenario so many times, right?**

**What's gonna happen is it's gonna follow Gil through his life. It won't necessarily be in chronological order- you might get a chapter where he's being dissolved, then one where he hears about Hungary and Austria's wedding announcement. I'll try to have each chapter involve his albinism in some way, but I don't know if that's plausible.**

**A few notes. This is a Pruhun story- always has been. There are gonna be times where it's one sided, for sure, though- especially when Liz and Rod are married.**

**Also, although Gil may mention things, like the village in the last chapter, a lot of things won't be shown- mostly violent things. Sometimes I like writing violence, but I'm really not comfortable writing baby Gil being beaten up and burnt at the stake, or even an exorcism, so that's likely not gonna happen.**

**Also a disclaimer- I am not albino, or religious, and I only speak English. If I get facts wrong on any of those fronts- for one thing, please forgive me, and I'm also happy to hear corrections. I'll look things up best I can, but I'm probably still gonna mess up, like I did with the Hungarian in the last chapter, so bear with me. I'll correct anything that I get wrong as best as I can.**

**Also, HRE doesn't have a human name, so I'm just gonna call him "Holy Rome." Really tempted to call him Ludwig, but I'm not gonna do that.**

**And before we begin- I don't think Gil and HRE had the most healthy relationship- after all, the kid was eventually left with Roddy. I kinda feel that Gil tried harder with Lud, as sort of an apology, and because he didn't ever want his brother to be hurt again. So... yeah. This chapter really sucks, so sorry in advance.**

The saying is, "If you love something, let it go." Prussia, however, thought that "If you love something, keep it in your sight at all times or your stupid prissy cousin will let him go off and die in battle" was a lot more accurate to the situation, even if it didn't sound as nice.

... Blaming Roderich was harsh, he knew it, but his brother was dead and he needed someone to blame. Someone that wasn't himself.

Because blaming himself made too much sense than he liked. _He'd_ sent Holy Rome to live with Austria. He hadn't watched over his brother like he should have and now...

_Gott verdammit!_ He thought he'd been doing the right thing, he really had. Giving him over to Austria- Austria, with his comfy life and big house, should have been able to watch after him.

And even if he hadn't- because his cousin meant well, he guessed, but wasn't exactly brotherly, and could be pretty damn selfish- Liz was good with kids. He never would have guessed it when they were kids themselves, but Felicano adored her, and she was nice to him. She could have helped too... _They said they would._

He rubbed his eyes, groaning, the horrible pit in his stomach getting worse. His reasons had been _good._ He wasn't around enough- he was always fighting a war, he was selfish, he was immature, he put his needs first. He knew all that, even if he acted like that stuff was bullshit.

But that would have been fine, if it was only that. He may not have been the best brother ever, but Germania hadn't been the best dad in existence, and Gil had turned out alright... Kind of.

It was other people. It was the fact that people were still paranoid around him. Yeah, there weren't really stake- burnings and exorcisms any more- not for few decades, at least- but there were looks. Name calling. Parents shielding their kids from him. Laughter. Little things that he had learned not to notice anymore- but they were big enough that his brother picked up on them.

Every so often there were fights- someone would say something and Gil's temper would get the better of him. He'd shoot a nasty comment back, or flip them off or even throw a punch.

Holy Rome never seemed to quite get it. He was smart, far smarter than Gil had been at his age, but he never really understood why people were rude to his brother, or why he'd sometimes come home bloodied up.

That was almost alright, too.

Then Holy Rome started to wise up. He asked questions. Painful ones. In childlike-curiosity, he asked Gilbert, very bluntly, if he really was a devil, and that doubt that had been buried by him and Liz so long ago creeped back up like bile.

But that had passed, and even that had been okay.

The fight where Holy Rome had called him a "white rat" had been bad, but they were brothers. They had ups and downs, and he knew the kid regretted saying that almost as much as Gil regretted smacking him for it. It might not be the most healthy relationship, but Prussia never considered sending his brother away.

Then came another fight. This one was different- Holy Rome was with him.  
His brother didn't get more than a bruise or two- _he_ wasn't the freak, after all, and _he_ hadn't called the guys a pack of degenerate apes- but that was enough. Prussia nearly killed the guys.

That was when the thought that he might not be the best guardian first crossed his mind. He'd gotten into a fight when the boy was right next to him- what kind of a brother did that? He thought and thought and when he saw the bruise on his brother's cheek turn from purple to black, he made up his mind.

A few days later, Gilbert went to Austria, Holy Rome in tow.

He didn't explain much to Roderich, who had smirked at his black eye and called him a barbarian. He didn't need to know the whole story. How would the aristocrat react, anyway- the cousin whose favorite insult for the albino was "demon douche?"

Whatever, he didn't care. He cared about his brother's reaction to being separated, that was all.

Holy Rome was calm about it. He looked at his brother, listened to the explanation, and nodded. He didn't argue or get angry or defensive, he simply obeyed. And sure, it was much better than seeing the blonde cry, but Prussia couldn't help but feel a bit hurt. Holy Rome may not have shown emotions often, but he was relatively expressive with his brother, and this... calm... was unsettling, to say the least. It was as if he didn't care.

That wasn't true, of course- the child simply didn't want to cry in front of his brother or the cute little girl with the pushbroom- but Gilbert didn't know that.

So he ruffled his brother's hair, laughed as the child fixed it almost automatically, and told him to be good and grow up strong and promised that he'd visit.

He came back a few times- sometimes for selfish reasons, like trying to get Hungary to hunt with him, but other times to see his brother. The boy seemed content there, if not a bit flustered about a certain little Italian, (an Italian that Prussia distinctly remembered being a boy, which was impossible, as Feliciano was clearly a little girl... ) so Gil was satisfied he'd done the right thing.

Out of his care, Holy Rome grew stronger. He got bigger, went into battles. Gil didn't worry- he'd gotten himself into worse as a kid, and he'd been absolutely fine.

He didn't worry a bit when the boy went to battle with France. After all, it was_ France_- his national flag might as well have been a white one. Besides, Francis was Gilbert's friend, he wouldn't have done anything to hurt his little brother.

He was wrong.

Francis came to his door, battle worn and regret apparent on his face and explained, voice shaking, that Holy Rome was gone- that he'd killed him.

...Well, technically, _Francis_ hadn't done anything to hurt Holy Rome. Francis never would have fought the boy face-to-face- he was a good man, he wouldn't have been willing to hurt a child. In fact, those had been the first words out of Francis' mouth when he had come to deliver the news.

_"I swear, I didn't touch 'im, but..."_

Well, who gave a _damn_ who actually _delivered_ the blow? So Francis didn't hurt him personally- that really wasn't any consolation to him. Didn't change the fact that his brother was dead.

Something could have been done. Francis had to go along with what his boss said, the rational part of Gil knew that, but he couldn't help but feel like there was something the Frenchman could have done. Refused to fight? Begged him to reconsider? Explained that Holy Rome was still a child?

Chances are it wouldn't have worked, but he could have _tried._

_"I didn't zink that this would happen, I never meant to kill 'im..."_

_Yeah, well, neither did I, but it happened, didn't it?_

He didn't let Francis explain much further than that. He'd told him to leave, unless he wanted another black eye to go with the one he was already sporting. He'd left immediately, a small blessing.

He was probably at Austria's house by now, giving the same spiel. He winced slightly at the thought, wondering how they'd react. Better than him, he hoped, as he glanced at the empty glasses surrounding him.

He took another sip, sighing. He was a country- he'd be expected to bounce back by his bosses, and soon. A mourning country wasn't a productive country, and he was sure that he would be called back to duties tomorrow.

But for tonight, he drank.

**Wow, so OOC and angsty Gil, yay. Didn't really know where I was going with this chapter, and it just sort of... happened. I know it isn't my best work, sorry. I'll be updating Magic Act soon, and maybe Proposals. I might crank out another chapter of this by the end of the week, I don't know. I'm sorry this chapter's so bad, I'll try to improve in the future.**


	3. Dear Diary

**So I said I'd crank out a new chapter by the end of the week- turns out you get two chapters in twenty-four hours, because I'm still trying to figure out what to do with Magic Act and Proposals, but I know what I want to do here, so...**

**Don't worry, this chapter will have Liz, and it won't be a̶s̶ depressing. (And since it's little Gilbo writing in his diary, there are gonna be a few purposeful spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and a lot of stuff crossed out because he wouldn't want somebody finding the diary to know what he really thought) **

**(And Liz and Eli are both Hungary, just so you all know) **

**Also, I found out that albinism is not only linked with sight problems, but a few sources say that it's also associated with hearing problems.**

_Dear Diary,_

_Liz gave me a black eye. Again. I would have beat her up but s̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶r̶e̶s̶ ̶m̶e̶ hitting a girl is wrong, so I let her off the hook. I'm so nice like that- she really should a̶p̶r̶e̶s̶i̶a̶t̶e̶ a̶p̶p̶r̶i̶c̶i̶a̶t̶e̶ like the awesome me more._

_She said I shouldn't get into fights... so she punched me. I don't see her lojic there._

_But she's a h̶i̶p̶p̶o̶c̶r̶i̶t̶ hypocrite anyway. She told me not yell at people when they call me names, but she punched Roddy in the nose because he did. I don't understand her. _

_I think Roddy broke his nose, and I can't see out of my eye._

_W̶h̶y̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶h̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶m̶e̶?̶_

_I think she felt bad for hitting my eyes though. It's hard to see out of them sometimes, and only having one makes it worse._

_Romania said that my eyes are like a vampire's, 'cause they can't be in sunlight too long._

_Romania is full of shit. He got a broken jaw._

_I really can't let Hungary hit people for me. It's getting e̶m̶b̶a̶r̶r̶a̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ e̶m̶b̶e̶r̶r̶a̶s̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ annoying. I can fight for myself._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Today Liz said her favorite color is red. I think mine's green._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_I don't like summer. I know Eli does, though. She says it's better for hunting, but she's wrong._

_There are more animals in the summer, but they're harder to track. Snow leaves footprints and it's harder to hide._

_Plus I blend in und I can scare Holy Rome! He's funny. He gets so freeked out over little things, but big things are no problem to him._

_But yeah, summer sucks. It's hard to see and the light hurts my eyes, so I can't stay out as long. I like summer at nite, but hunting at nite sucks. You see even less then you do in the day._

_Eli gets frekles in the summer, and she gets really tan. That's the only thing I like about summer- because s̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶o̶o̶k̶s̶ ̶k̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ then, when she's sleeping, I can draw lines inbetween her frekles like c̶o̶n̶s̶t̶a̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ constellations._

_I burn in summer, and my skin gets red und peely. I don't think I've ever had frekles._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Today Roddy said that he thinks it's w̶i̶e̶r̶d̶ weerd how much my eyes move. Liz punched him in the arm, but agreed._

_I never even noticed._

_At least I don't need glasses._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_I was hunting with Liz today, und we almost got down a deer, which isn't really a big deal for an awesome hunter like me, but it was probably awesome for her._

_But then I started whispering to her and the deer heard und ran away. She punched me for yelling, but she's crazy. I was whispering._

_I'd be able to tell if I was yelling, right?_

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_A̶p̶p̶e̶r̶e̶n̶t̶l̶y̶ Apparently I yell a lot. _

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Have I told you how much I hate summer?_

_It's so hot! The only way that I don't burn is by covering myself in black clothing, and that's torture. It's like it traps the heet in._

_Liz said my outfit looked cool though, so that's a plus._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Roddy said I look classless. I told him he looked like a priss._

_We both have really big bruises on our arms._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Today I hid in the snow and threw snowballs at Roddy. Liz joined me._

_Serves him right._

_He never saw me! He saw Eli, but he couldn't tell who she was. He didn't see me at all, though, except my eyes._

_He nearly pissed himself._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_I met another kid like me today! He was a human, of course, but his eyes were pink und his hair was really really blond. He'd never met anyone like him, before, eether._

_I gess I do look human._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Liz and I finally got a deer! Next thing you no, we'll be hunting wolves!_

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_I went back to see the kid, but he died a while ago. I forgot how short human's lives were. But I met his kid- she was normal._

* * *

_Dear Diary_

_Liz didn't want to go hunting today._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Eli went hunting with me today, but only for an hour. I dunno why._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_I haven't gotten in a fight in a week! _

_Neither has Eli, though. It's weerd._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Eli lives with Austria now._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_She's wearing dresses. I'm getting worried._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_I finally convinced her to go hunting. She's just as good as she used to be- dunno why I worried._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_Liz won't go hunting anymore._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_I've stopped asking._

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_I asked Liz what her favorite color was today. She said purple._

_I still like green._

* * *

**I really didn't try to make this sad but then it happened I'm so sorry.**


	4. All The Same To Me

**I don't know why I keep updating this fic- I mean, I have other ones to work on, too, but I just keep getting ideas.**

**Don't worry- this one'll be funny- since this one is modern, Gil's comfortable making jokes about his albinism at this point, and everyone's pretty used to it, so no angst. (Plus the fact that Francis and Gil are friends again...) Enjoy a Halloween story in February. It's also chock-full of painful cliches, Les Mis and other fandom references (mostly musical-based) and a few side pairings that you may or may not like, so sorry.**

**(Also, fun fact, we're reading Frankenstein in class and I pronounced it wrong, just like Gil does. I thought that Young Frankenstein had the right pronunciation for some reason)**

_Perfect_. Gilbert looked in the mirror and smiled at himself. _Gilbert Beilschmidt, Mad Scientist_. It had a nice ring to it, and the costume was good enough that he had a chance of winning America's little competition.

He just needed a creature.

"Vest!" he called, taking off the labcoat and mussing his hair back down. "Ve gotta vork on your costume!" He walked into the living room, where his brother was sitting, reading a book.

"_My_ costume?"

"Yeah! You're gonna be Fronkensteen, und I'll be ze scientist!"

"...Frankenstein is ze scientist. And it's _Frankenstein_, not 'Fronkensteen.'"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure it's Fronkensteen. And vhatt'ya mean Fronkensteen's ze scientist? That guy's named Igor!"

"Uh, no, his name is Victor Frankenstein. Ze creature doesn't get a name."

Gilbert crossed his arms, not believing a word of it. "First you tell me the monster's name is Frankenstein, zen you tell me it doesn't have a name? Next zing I know, he won't be green, und he'll recite poetry!"

Ludwig sighed. "He _isn't_ green, he's yellowish, und he's actually very articulate."

"... Nein, he's green und he can barely talk. Man, Lud, vhat version did_ you_ see?"

"... Ze book."

"Zere's a book?"

"Ja, Gilbert, zere's a book. By Mary Shelley?" Germany prompted his brother, hoping some sort of light would go off in his head. It didn't. "Never mind. It doesn't matter anyvay, because I already have a costume."

Well he didn't expect that. "Vith who?"

Germany sighed, a bit of pink going to his cheeks, and Gilbert grinned. Oh. "Italy, eh? Vhat're ya goin' as?"

"...Vell he und Romano are going to be the Mario brothers, und Felicano wanted a Bowser..."

Gilbert couldn't hold back a wild whoop of laughter. "Bowser?!"

His little brother looked at him pathetically. "He gave me _puppy dog eyes_, East..."

"Nah, I get it- anyzing for your boyfriend!"

"H-He's not-"

"Anyway, I'm sure it vas easy for you to put together, ja? I mean, you already had a collar in your closet!"

Ludwig, now completely red in the face, threw a pillow at the albino. Gil chuckled and ducked. "I probably deserved zat."

_"Probably?"_

"I'm surprised that Romano's okay viz you being a part of the group- or viz vearing a moustache."

"He kept begging until Romano agreed. He's good at zat."

"Oh, so he's good at begging? You have any personal experience viz zat, Vest?"

The next pillow didn't miss.

Gilbert brushed himself off, his grin slipping slightly. "So vhat'm I gonna do, zen, if you won't be Frankenstein?"

"Ze monster."

"Vhatever. I still don't know vhat I'm doing."

"You could just vear your scientist costume-"

"Nein, it's stupid vithout a monster... Damn it, Vest, I zought I could count on you!"

"You never told me you vanted me to be a part of your costume!"

"You should have known!"

"How vould I have known, Prussia? You're being ridiculous! Just go to ze store und get a new costume!"

"It's Halloween! Zey von't have anything good left!"

"Zat's not my fault, you shouldn't have procrastinated."

Prussia groaned, but grabbed his coat.

...

Prussia was right- the aisles were practically barren, save for a few pathetic costumes here and there. A banana, a tomato- Gil laughed to himself, picturing Antonio wearing that... he probably would, to be honest- a few video game characters and a Disney prince or two, but nothing that really caught his ey-

Well, _hello_ there.

At the end of the aisle, in the reduced bin, was a costume. But not just any costume.

It was pitch-black with red lining and accents, and a red cape. It had silver buttons and tails and a silver pitchfork with blood dripping down and a tail and-

Oh.

_Horns._

And now there was a dilemma in Gilbert's mind. Because that costume was cool. _Really cool_. And he'd look fucking awesome in it, he was certain.

But it was a demon costume. A_ demon_ costume.

He looked at it, stared at it, trying to decide what to do. Finally making up his mind, he grabbed the costume and props, and some black dye- Gilbird couldn't be yellow for this, now could be?- and walked up to the cash register.

...

The party was already in full swing when the albino finally got there. He couldn't even be called fashionably late at this point, he was just plain late. He didn't mind, though, as he hadn't missed much.

He looked around trying to figure out who everyone was. There were the Italy brothers, dressed as Mario and Luigi, just as Germany had said. West looked ridiculous as Bowser- he'd have to take a picture at some point, this was priceless.

"Ah, mon ami!" France grinned, sauntering over. His long blonde hair was in a ponytail and he was wearing a red vest with a gold, xylophone-like pattern, a cockade and a sash. He was also dragging England behind him, who was muttering about how he "couldn't believe he was doing this." He was dressed in a green vest, a wine bottle in his hand, stubble and dark circles under his eyes. He looked miserable.

"Vhat're you supposed to be?"

"Apollo and his Dionysis!" Francis laughed, gesturing towards England.

"...Vhat?"

"Ze revolutionary and ze drunk!"

Prussia still looked confused.

"Ze dreamer and ze cynic!"

England looked at Gilbert, who was still utterly lost, groaned and explained. "The frog convinced me to go as Grantaire, from Les Miserables...He wanted to be Enjolras..." Oh, of course. Gilbert should have known- he and Toni had been dragged to productions by Francis enough times that it was a bit strange he didn't recognize the pair. " I only agreed because it's a great piece of literature."

"A French piece of literature!"

"Don't remind me," he looked at Gilbert, an evil smile playing on his face. "He said if I did this, I could choose his costume for next year. I'm going to make him_ suffer_."

Gilbert looked mildly disturbed, and Francis just smiled nervously. "Ja, you have fun wiz zat, zen."

"Oh I will!"

"Woah, guys! Enjolras and R? Really?" America asked, tapping Arthur on the shoulder. _Where the fuck had he come from?_ He was wearing a pinstripe suit, a black bowtie and skeleton make-up- Jack, the Pumpkin King. Prussia had noticed Japan walking around in a gender-swapped version of Sally a while ago, and he smirked at the connotations of that. "Never expected you two to be a couples costume!"

"W-we're not a- how did you know who we are?"

"My soldiers read Les Mis all the time in the Civil War. I decided, 'eh, what the Hell?' and read it too."

"It's over 1000 pages long!"

"And? What're you saying, that I'm stupid?"

Gilbert took this as a cue to leave, especially when Birdie stepped in- now the whole family was arguing. (Well, France, England and America were fighting, and Canada was trying, in vain, to keep the peace.) Their family fights were notorious, and Prussia didn't really want to be in the middle of one.

As he started to walk away, he knocked into someone. He groaned. "Ah, shit, sorry, didn't see ya there." he looked up, only to see Hungary. She was dressed in a long, flowing white dress, a gold halo, and silvery wings. He laughed out loud. "An angel?"

She laughed too. "A devil?"

"...Yeah, vhy?"

She looked at him, a bit amused. "Well, you're the last person I expected to be dressed like a demon."

He shrugged, laughing. "I have ze coloring down, don't I?"

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything..." she laughed, nudging him. "Your costume's a hell of a lot better than mine."

"I know. Vhy are you an angel, anyvay? It's nozing like you."

"Oh, thanks," she said, rolling her eyes. Then she grinned. "My other costume didn't work out- I shrank it in the wash by mistake, and left getting a new one to last minute- this was all the shops had that wasn't complete crap."

"Ja, same here." He looked her over. The costume was really cheesey, but she made it look good.

"We're going to be telling everyone that we aren't a couples costume all night, won't we?"

He shrugged. "Ve could alvays say ve are."

Hungary gaped at him. "And why would we do that?"

"Vell, the couple's costumes alvays vin, right? The bigger ze group, ze bigger ze chance zey have! Und I vant to vin. I know you do too."

A familiar glint appeared in Hungary's eyes. _**Competition**_. Competition on the same team as Prussia wasn't as fun as competition against him, but he had a point- team costumes usually had a better shot. "Alright, Beilschmidt. You're on."

Prussia grinned.

...

The competition started soon after. First were the single person costumes- there weren't many of those, though. The only one that really stood out was Poland as Pinkie Pie, although nobody was at all surprised by his choice in costume.

Then came the groups. There were quite a few, other than what Prussia had already seen. Hungary had laughed quite a bit when she saw Ludwig as Bowser, but smiled knowingly the minute Gilbert mentioned Feliciano.

There were other groups, as well. Belarus was beautiful as the Blue Fairy, with Russia as Gepeto, Ukraine in an poorly fitted Jiminy Cricket outfit and Latvia stuffed in a Pinocchio costume. Estonia and Lithuania were dressed as half-donkey boys. (Italy whined when he saw this set, as that had been his idea for next year.)

The micronations had all dressed in school uniforms, and had declared that they were the children from Matilda. They had somehow dragged Belgium in to be Miss Honey, and the kids had attempted their own version of "Revolting Children," getting up to, "There is nothing that old Jerkland can do- he can take his kettle and SHU-" before being quickly ushered offstage.

Francis and Arthur earned a few laughs, simply because their roles were so reversed.

And so the judging went on. The costumes were good- really good. Gilbert tugged at his own, a bit of doubt crossing his mind. It was just store bought, after all. Sure, he had improved it quite a bit before getting to the party, but adding wings and getting it to fit better didn't mean that it was up to par with the rest of the costumes. He looked to Liz and saw that she seemed to be having the same thoughts, which was pretty ridiculous. She looked amazing if he was being honest with himself.

"Hey," he nudged her, whispering- they were going to be on next. "Y'look good."

Eli looked at him, a bit wary. "Uh-huh. Thanks, Gil."

"Nien, I mean it! Uh, y'know, your hair. It looks... not dirty."

"You're a real charmer, you know that?" she laughed, then nudged him back. "You don't look too bad yourself, Beelzebub."

He laughed, then thought for a minute. "Of course I look awesome- I alvays do!"

She snorted, then Gilbert asked, "Vanna svitch vings or somethin'? You can hold my pitchfork, too. Ve'll seem more like a group costume that way."

"I think you just want my silvery glitter wings," she laughed.

"Oh, totally. Pinnacle of fashion, zose are. Just ask Francis." They both erupted into laughter at that, before deciding not to change anything last minute.

Then it was their turn. When Toni- who was dressed as Toad- and Francis saw their best friend and his childhood crush on stage together, they cheered... and immediately started teasing Gil.

"Gilbert, 'ow'd you get 'er to agree to zis?" France snickered. "Did you make 'er sign away 'er soul?"

Antonio laughed and shook his head. "Francis, you give him too much credit! This was obviously Hungary's idea."

"True, true- Gil doesn't 'ave za balls to ask 'er ze_ time_, let alone ask 'er to do a joint costume!"

"Fuck you too, guys!" Gilbert shot back, sticking his tongue out. "I have plenty of balls!" (Here, both Liz and Ludwig facepalmed and sighed in embarrassment.)

"Prove it!" Toni called. "Kiss her!"

"W- was?!"

"You 'eard 'im! Kiss 'er!"

"I don't- you fuckers- I- You do it first!"

The other two gladly complied. Antonio grabbed Lovino and, after a bit of a struggle, managed to steal a kiss, while Francis pecked Arthur on the cheek and ended up with a black eye for his efforts. Despite their bodily injuries, both men had triumphant smiles on their faces.

"Now it's your turn, amigo!"

Gilbert looked truly terrified now, his eyes flitting from his friends, to Liz, back to his friends. "I, uh... Vell-"

"Come on, Gilbert, it's only fair!"

"But-"  
"Oh for God's sake!" Eli groaned, grabbing Prussia's face and mashing to into her own. After a few seconds, she let go, and Gilbert stumbled backwards, red in the face. "Happy now?"

"I- I am..." Gilbert muttered, still in a daze.

...

The winners were announced shortly after. They weren't at all shocked to hear that they didn't win.

...

Gilbert cleared his throat awkwardly, scootching next to Liz.

"So, uh, about zat kiss..." he cleared his throat again and took another sip of his drink, not sure where he was going with this. "It was, uh-"

"You're a bad kisser," she interrupted him, smirking. "Honestly, not one of my best."

"Vell, zat's nice of you to say," he scoffed. Then he looked at her, curious. "But not ze vorst?"

"Eh, I guess not. You could use some practice though."

He cocked an eyebrow at her, not quite sure if he believed what she had just said.

"Vhere vould I get said practice?"

"I'm sure you could figure it out, even with your pea sized brain."

He smirked, but responded. "I'll bet I'm better zen you, zough."

"Oh, really?" her eyes had that familiar glint in them again. "Prove it."

"Are you sure zat an angel should be tempting a devil? Isn't it ze ozzer vay around?"

She shrugged, downed the rest of her drink and said, "Angel, devil- it's all the same to me."

Well, maybe they hadn't really lost after all- in fact, Gilbert was pretty sure he'd just won something very big indeed.


	5. Drinks and Divorce

**Hey, so if anyone has something they want to see in this story, I'd be happy to hear it. This chapter doesn't have much to do with his albinism- like, at all- but I wanted to write it down, and I figured, since it's Gil-centric, it could go here.**

**Also, this is 1918, so Prussia's feeling pretty crappy, physically- Prussian history is really complicated, but the reason why is simply that the Kingdom officially dissolved in 1918, but the state of Prussia dissolved in 1932- or, at least, that's when it lost all political and legal influence, and the country was legally disbanded in 1940. (According to my research, that is) This means that he's weak right now, and he's feeling really drained and sick, being all but reduced to a state. (Again, I got this from internet research, so this might be off by a bit)**

**EDIT! T****hank you to Lothlorien93 again for not only being my translator- I speak no German or Hungarian and have dependent on google translate, which apparently is shit- but also for a lovely bit of insight to some Prussian, Austrian and Hungarian history. She- or he- said "the State of Prussia was officially dissolved on 25th February 1947. Even if it didn't have much influence after 1932, it still existed between 1918 and 1947. (Okay, after the Soviet invasion and massacre in 1945, it didn't really existed any more. But it was dissolved only in 1947. *hic-hic*)**

**Austria and Hungary is another topic. Okay, I know it's just a fanfiction, but if you wanted to be "canon" (I mean the history), the two country had quite a bad relationship. They haven't liked each other a bit, and our relationship with our neighbour still can get nasty sometimes. (And that's why had the old Hungary good relationship with the Kingdom of Prussia, because they have beaten Austria up sometimes.)  
It's just an opinion, and a bit of history lesson, although I see there are many who likes Austria and Hungary together in the fics. We don't really."**

**Thank you so much for letting me know all that, I'm honestly pretty surprised. I personally wrote how they interact in the Hetalia cannon, with them being quite friendly still during _Buon San Valentino_, and I'm assuming the rest of the time, but I gotta wonder why it was written that way in cannon if they're historically hostile. *shrugs* This chapter is too dependent on a good relationship- or at least a civil one- to omit that they're still friends, but I'll keep it in mind for future chapters!**

**Also, I know this chapter is kinda weird, and filler, but I've never written Roddy before, and I kinda wanted to try my hand at it. Don't worry, the next chapter has more Gil and Liz... but it has Roddy, too, so...**

* * *

Ludwig had said this was stupid. That it was insensitive and cruel to be celebrating this. But gott verdammit, he had felt like shit recently and he'd had absolutely nothing to be happy about- and he felt like he wouldn't have much to look forward to in the near future, too. So going out drinking to celebrate a divorce? _Fuck yeah_, he was going to do it, even if his head started to spin after half a drink and there was blood in his sick.

So Gilbert found himself stumbling into the nearest bar, light-headed even without a drop of alcohol in his system. He slumped down on a stool and ordered himself a beer, grinning. Then two, then three. It was by the fifth or sixth that he noticed someone sit next to him, ordering an apricot schnapps. Gilbert snorted.

"Vhat?" the man whined, still not facing him.

"Nozing, it's just- a fruit drink? In a German bar? Look, I don't know you, bu-" he faced the man, nearly choking on his beer. "_Roddy_?"

The man looked at him and started, more than a bit surprised to find himself facing his cousin. "I should have known," Roderich sighed. "Who else has zat hair?"

Gilbert shrugged, his grin never slipping off his face. "Dunno."

There were a few minutes of awkward silence as the men downed their drinks, each ordering more. Then Gilbert cleared his throat. Usually he'd ignore the Austrian, but he was drunk- more drunk than usual, due to his condition. He wasn't really thinking straight.

"Surprised t'see you drinking... Zhis doesn't really seem like somezing you'd do. Any reason?"

Roderich rolled his eyes and sipped at his drink. "I'm getting a divorce, dummkopf. Any specific reason you're drinking?"

"'Course there is," he downed the rest of his drink and beamed, his mind too drunk and addled to even attempt at being sensitive. Or, unfortunately, to keep his mouth shut. "You're gettin' a divorce! You an' *hic* Lizzie!"

Roderich's eyes widened slightly, then he smirked. "I suppose I should have known. You've always liked her, after all."

_What?!_ "Fuck!" For the second time that evening, Gilbert nearly choked on his drink. "Y-you knew?"

The pianist shrugged, finishing his drink. He ordered another one and kept talking. He wasn't really sure why, but he wanted to talk, and Gilbert was there to talk to... He sighed. "You're my cousin, and she vas my vife. As much as I absolutely despise saying it, you're my friend. Sort of. I know you- und it vas obvious, really."

"_Fuuuuck..._" he groaned, putting his head in his hands. He hadn't thought he'd been obvious... Okay, maybe a bit, but he'd tried to keep his distance... kind of... okay, yeah, he'd done a crappy job of hiding it.

Just a few drinks in his system, and Austria was already tipsy. " I know she's fond of you..." when the albino's eyes lit up, he held up a hand. He was slurring and stuttering now, which Gilbert had to laugh at. It was really unlike his cousin. "N-now I dunno how fond s-she is, so don't get your hopes up. She could d-do a lot better."

Prussia scoffed. "Vhat, like *hic* you? Y-you're not zat great-"

"Nein, nein... She could do better'n eizer von of us..." he smiled sadly, peering into his drink.

Gilbert was about to argue, but he realized that he was right. They were both self-centered pricks half the time, they just showed it differently. Liz probably_ did_ deserve more. He snorted. "Ja, I'll drink to zat." they clinked their glasses half-heartedly.

...

"Zat vas _you_?!"

"Uh-huh! Vhenever you *hic* were pelted by snowballs und y-you didn't see who it vas, it vas me an'- an' Eli!"

Both men were red in the face, completely and utterly plastered. They were receiving several strange looks- talking about how the 1400's and 1500's were "good times" generally aroused a bit of confusion from passerby, after all.

"Vell, I vas t-the von zat stole your b-bird! After y-you sent him to declare var, I just... just kept him!"

"Bastard! He vas gone for veeks! I zought he'd left me!"

Austria laughed. "It's just a bird."

"Nein... nein, Gilbird- Gilbird's my friend! My best friend!" he gestured dramatically, almost falling off his stool.

"Zat's pathetic."

"Y-you're pathetic!" he snapped back. "'T.. 'T least I have friends!"

"Oh, sure, y-your bruder, and a bird. I'm s-seething with jealousy."

"And Toni and Fr-" he cut himself off, remembering his recent near dissolution, and the near crippling debt his brother and he now shared. _Not_ Francis. "An' Toni! An' Liz, and- hey, _you_ said ve vere friends, ja?"

He shrugged. "I suppose I did, didn't I? I mean, ve're cousins, v-ve should at least be civil... Even if it's just for Elizaveta's s-sake."

The albino nodded. "Vhy do ya call her zat?"

"Hmm?"

"Vhy do you call her *hic* Elizaveta?"

"Vell, it's her name, for one z-zing."

"Ja, but you vere married so long, and 'Elizaveta' is a mouthful."

"I d-don't do nicknames. You k-know zat."

"'Course I do, _Roddy_," he grinned. He chugged his beer, but swallowed it wrong, dissolving into a coughing fit. Blood and mucus spattered the countertop. "Aww, shit."

Roderich looked at the other man, horrified. "A-are you alright?"

"Yeah, guess so. Joy of- *hic* joy of dissolution."

Austria raised an eyebrow at that. He seemed a lot more sober, suddenly, and even a bit solemn. "You're not technically dissolved-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But mein kingdom is. Zat's a big fucking deal," he groaned, his stomach beginning to feel nauseous. He pushed his drink away, hardly believing what he was doing. Roderich seemed confused too.

"Vhy are you drinking if you feel so awful?"

"Hey, still a celebration. Nozing's gonna keep me from my beer!" he pulled it towards him, then grimaced. "'Cept my stomach, apparently."

The other man smiled in spite of himself, but his features quickly reverted back to their usual frown. "You should be smart enough to cut yourself off."

"I am- vhat'm I doing now, huh?" once again, he pushed the drink away. He gagged, but held it in- he refused to barf all over his cousin, as amusing as it might be.

"...Gilbert, are you alright?"

Gilbert scoffed, half in amusement, half in annoyance. "Yeah, 'M fine. Don't need people babying me, okay? Look, I'm going home."

The dark-haired man nodded, stirring his drink. Then he sighed, and tapped the other man on the shoulder.

"Look, Prussia. I zink zat Elizaveta could do a lot better, but... If anyzing happens between you und her in ze future, I von't stop you. I don't zink you deserve her- not even for a minute- but it's her choice."

"Vhat, are you giving me permission?"

"No, not at all! You're both your own people- I can't just give her avay like a posession, und I can't make you choose vhat to do. Eizer vay, I'm not even giving my blessing, really. I'm just..." he sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I don't vant eizer of us to be bitter, und I don't vant Elizaveta upset, or pressured. Our marriage may not have vorked out, but I still... She's my closest friend, and I care deeply for her. I don't vant to cause her any pain. I couldn't do zat to her."

The silvery-haired man's heart sunk to his stomach. He had never wanted to believe it, throughout all the years Liz and Roddy had been together, but... "You really loved her."

"I married her."

"I zought... I zought it vas political. Zat you didn't really... love her."

Austria looked like he was struggling with something, trying to find the right words. "No, I... I used to. I still care for her immensely... But not in the same vay. Zings have been tense for a vhile now." he smiled a tiny smile. "I'll be very happy vhen zis is over, so I can have my friend back- vizout ze strains of marriage."

Prussia nodded, some of his perpetual anger at the Austrian shedding away. "Yeah. I zink-" he stumbled, feeling light-headed and weak on his feet. "I zink zat'll be nice for everyvon." he caught himself, grinning.

"Are you absolutely sure zat you're alright to get home by yourself?"

"Certain. I don't need your babysititng, Edelstein!"

He rolled his eyes. "Alright, I von't try to help in ze future."

Gil nodded. "Damn right you *hic* von't." then he looked at his cousin. "This vas, uh..."

"Veird?"

"Ja, veird."

"Vell, it von't happen again. Goodbye, Beilschmidt."

"See ya, Edelstein!" he waved and stumbled out of the bar.

Roderich sighed and called the bartender over. "I'll have what he vas having."

"Are you sure? It's awful strong..."

"Ja, I'm sure. I'm starting to get a headache."

The bartender glanced at Gilbert, who had just knocked into a streetlight and was currently cussing it out, and snorted. "Yeah, I don't blame ya."


	6. Green

**Two updates in one day? Man, do I spoil you guys! (Just kidding, I know you guys could care less)**

**Anyway, this chapter's Pruhun- but kind of sad Pruhun, because I apparently can't write fluff.**

**Still, Pruhun!**

**(And yeah, it's totally ripping off from chapter three- I just really liked the little concept, so I ran with it.)**

* * *

It had started as a silly question. Something Gilbert was simply curious about. He didn't know the other country very well, and this was an easy enough question, to break the ice.

"So, Hungary, vhat's your favorite color?"

Hungary had shrugged and said that he- she?- he, yes, he must be a he- wasn't really sure.

Gilbert had dropped it.

* * *

He asked again a few years later. The country still wasn't sure, and he said so.

Once again, Gilbert let it go.

* * *

It almost became a game.

"Hey, Eli, vhat's your favorite color?"

"I dunno, what's yours?"

And since neither of them knew, the question was always dropped.

* * *

"So Eli, vhat's your favorite color?"

The country- who was most certainly a girl, he thought, even if she didn't know it- thought for a moment, and shrugged. "Red."

... Wait, no. That wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to know. It was supposed to be a joke.

"Red?"

"Yeah, red. Kinda like your eyes. That red."

And even little Gilbert, who wasn't really very polite or good with manners, knew when he was being handed a complement, and did the right thing. He returned it.

"Oh. Ja, I like green."

* * *

And again, it became a game.

"So, Liz," he smiled, watching as she took her arrow out of a deer carcass, "vhat's your favorite color?"

She grinned up at him, removing the weapon with a grunt, and replied, "Red. And you?"

He smirked. "Green."

Surprisingly enough, he really _was_ starting to like green.

* * *

The question became constant, and the response became automatic.

"Vhat's your favorite color?"

"Red. And you?"

"Green."

The answer was no longer out of courtesy, but was completely true. Green was the most beautiful color he had ever seen.

* * *

He asked her everyday. It was strange, almost like a comfort thing. As long as she said "Red. And you?" everything was normal. It made him happier to hear that than he ever cared to admit.

He wasn't sure why.

Despite his barrage of the question, she always laughed and answered happily, happy to hear his answer in return.

* * *

"Vhat's your favorite color?"

There would be a small sigh, but she would answer, "Red. And you?"

She still smiled when he said green.

* * *

The sighs turned more frequent and exasperated, and she no longer seemed to care about Gilbert's answer.

He didn't notice, too relieved that her answer didn't change.

Everything was still alright.

* * *

"Vhat's your favorite color?"

She looked at him. She thought about it.

She wasn't supposed to do that. She was supposed to say "Red. And you?" immediately after the question was asked. That's how it had always been. Didn't she know the rules by now?

Instead she thought and thought, and the queasy, gnawing feeling in Gilbert's stomach began to grow.

Finally, she shrugged.  
"I don't know. Red, I guess."

... She _guessed?_

He nodded. "Green."

* * *

He knocked on the door, hands shaking.

_Marriage. _No, that couldn't be true. Especially not to Roddy...

She opened the door, her green eyes showing her surprise.

"Gilbert?"

"I- I just vanted to ask... Eli, vhat's your favorite color?"

She looked at the albino, frowning, and said, "Well, I like purple."

_Purple. _He nodded numbly.

"Can I talk to Roddy? I vant to ask him somezing."

She frowned, but shrugged. She brought her fiance to the door and left.

"Roderich... vhat's your favorite color?"

If it was green, then it would be okay. Not okay, exactly, but not so bad. Liz deserved someone who liked green- even if it wasn't him.

Roderich looked at his cousin like he'd gone insane. Still, he thought. It was a harmless enough question, he supposed. He thought of the things he owned, the things he enjoyed. He owned a lot of lavender, a lot of purple- it went with his eyes, and he supposed he enjoyed that.

"Purple."

For some reason, Gilbert looked angry at that. _That self-centered douche likes his own eyes better than Lizzie's. How arrogant can you get?_ Then a bit sad. _He probably likes himself more than he likes Lizzie. _"Oh."

Austria's brow furrowed. "Is somezing wrong?"

"Nein... Ja... I don't know..." Yes, everything was wrong. "Roddy y-ya gotta promise me somezing, alright?"

"Vhat?"

"Lizzie- if she asks you vhat your favorite color is- say green. Just fucking say it."

The aristocrat's frown deepened. "But vhat if zat isn't true? Vhat if I don't like green?"

"Zen you're fucking blind, alright? You're fucking blind if you zink zat purple is better zen green. Green is ze most beautiful color zere is. But even if your head's too far up in your own ass to see zat, don't tell Liz. _Tell her you like green._"

His eyes- his purple eyes- softened. "Of course. For Elizaveta."

Prussia felt a pang of something, and he gulped. It was almost as if Roderich cared. But that couldn't be right. That could mean that he loved Eli, and if he loved her, then he couldn't hate him. So he frowned at his cousin, refusing to admit that Roderich might actually care for his future wife.

"Ja. Keep zat in mind."

He sauntered off, cursing.

* * *

Years passed. Wars came, and went- including the worst wars the world had ever seen. The World Wars. Prussia dissolved, but Gil stayed on earth. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't question it- never look a gift horse on the mouth, right?

He didn't ask Liz what her favorite color was anymore. They talked, they hung out, but he never asked.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

* * *

It was a silly day, really. Video games, popcorn. And as much as he hated to say it, she was whooping his butt.

He was focused on the screen, determined to win, but he knew it was a lost cause. He threw the controller, nearly hitting Berlitz, who growled and ran away, most likely to find Germany. Stupid mutt.

Liz laughed, berating him and making fun of his gaming skills- which were really quite good, to be honest, juts not as good as Eli's.

He laughed too, and almost automatically, asked, "So, Eli, vhat's your favorite color?"

His eyes widened the minute he said it. _Where had that come from?_

Eli looked at him, more than a little surprised. He hadn't asked that in so long. Gil's stomach began to churn. Finally she smirked. "Red." then, a bit uncertainly, she followed it up with, "And you?"

An easy grin slipping onto the albino's face, he responded, with complete certainty, "Green."


	7. Fern

**Hey so in this one they're already married and for the purposes of this fanfic, countries can have kids. I don't know how that would work- would the kids be states? Provinces? I don't know...**

**(Oh, and a few other couples are married too, just a heads-up)**

**Also, Gil's type of albinism isn't sex-linked, it's autosomal, but it makes sense for Gil to think it may be, as it's a recessive gene that shows up more often in those with a Y chromosome, (because the Y chromosome doesn't carry the condition at all, but it also can't balance it out, so if the condition is in the mother's X chromosome and she doesn't get another X to block it, then the condition turns dominant) but I might be wrong, as I'm going from assumptions and high-school biology.**

**Also, thank you to Miss Akiyata, who has reviewed literally every chapter, and Kornblume Cavalier who was my first reviewer and has reviewed almost every chapter as well!**

**Actually, just thanks to everyone. I didn't think anyone would care about this story at all, to be honest!**

**(Also I'm so sorry about the Doctor Who reference, I couldn't help myself.)**

* * *

_Pregnant. _

"You're sure about zis?"

Elizaveta looked at him, rolled her eyes and asked, "Do you want me to show you the pregnancy test?"

His head was spinning in disbelief. "Ja. Yeah, I zink-"

"Which one?"

"Huh?"

"I took three tests, which one should I show you?"

He blinked. _Oh_. "So you're sure."  
"Certain."

He blinked yet again. And again. And again. Elizaveta was starting to grow a bit concerned when he grinned.

"You're _pregnant!"_

She laughed at his expression, then nodded. "Yup!"

He hugged her tightly, then looked at her stomach. "There's a baby in zere!"

"Well, yeah..." she was still laughing.

"Und I'm its Vati!"

"No shit!"

"Hey now," he smirked wagging a finger condescendingly. "Don't svear in front of ze baby."

"This baby's going to grow up with us as parents. It should get used to swearing."

He snorted, rubbing her belly. "Yeah... So, is he kicking yet?"

"_He?_"

"Or she. Vhatever. Is it kicking yet?"

She scoffed. "Gil, I'm not even showing. Babies don't kick this early."

"Und how early is it?"

She shrugged. "Hard to tell. Five weeks? Six? Somewhere around there."

He patted the belly again- he really couldn't believe that there was a tiny human in there. He couldn't stop beaming. "How long have you known?"

"A few days."

He nodded, still looking at the belly in wonder.

"... Prussia, the baby isn't going to grow faster if you look at it."

He shrugged. "It vas vorth a shot!"

* * *

Ludwig looked at his phone- Gil. He sighed, already feeling a headache coming on, but answered.

"Hallo, brude-"

"You're gonna be a godfather!"

Wow, okay, _rude. _He hadn't even finished his sentence-

Wait.

_What._

"A- a _vhat?"_

"Eli's pregnant! Wiz a baby! _My _baby! Und you get to be ze awesome onkel!" his brother was practically gushing. "You'll be my kid's godfather!"

"Hold up a minute, Gilbert. Elizaveta's _pregnant?_" Feliciano, who was busy playing with the dogs, perked up suddenly and squealed. Ludwig held up a hand to shush him.

"Ja, ja, didn't you hear vhat I said?!"

"... You're going to be a vater..."

"Yeah, aren't you listening?"

"You're going to be in charge of a small child..."

"Vell, me und Lizzie. Und I can do zis- I raised you just fine, didn't I?"

Germany sighed. "Ja, you did..."

"Look, I- I'll be fine at zis! Really, I vill!"

Oh, shit. Ludwig cursed himself- his brother was losing confidence, and, while his head could be deflated a bit, he didn't want the albino to start freaking out. "I believe you."

"_Luddie, _what's going o_n_?" Italy whined. "Is Miss Hungary pregnant or not?"

"Ja, she's pregnant-"

"Are we the bambino's godfathers?"

"Yes, ve are-"

"Dio mio! This is amazing!"

"Look, Feliciano if you could just-"

"Bruder, you zere?"

"Ja, Gilbert, I'm still-"

"Ve, will we need to make a room for the baby, too? It might spend nights over here-"

"So I vas zinking, Vest, zat ve could use some of your old shit for ze baby- zat alright wiz you?"

Ludwig's head started to pound. With his over-excited husband right next to him and his brother jabbering to him over the phone, it was getting to be too much. "Yeah it's fine- Italy, vait a minute- but shouldn't you get new supplies? Our stuff is awfully old."

"They don't make 'em like they used to! Ze old stuff's ze best, und little Gil deserves the best, ja?"

Ludwig smirked when he heard his exasperated sister-in-law proclaim that the baby would be named "Gilbert" when hell froze over.

After a little more excited yammering, from both Feli and Gilbert, Ludwig managed to get off the phone. He frowned, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was going to have a niece or nephew running around in a few short months.

"Hey, Luddie?" Feliciano had been thinking this over for a while, and now seemed like the perfect time to talk about it.

"Ja?"

"Are we gonna make a room for the baby, since we're its godfathers?"

He shrugged. "I guess ve could."

Feliciano nodded. "But what would we do with the room when the baby isn't here?"

"Just... not use it?"

"But that would be a waste of a room!"

Germany groaned. "So do you zink ve should set a room up for a baby, or not? Ze baby probably von't be around zat often."

"Yeah, we should, even if your brother's baby isn't really around!"

Lud was beyond confused. Why did Feliciano want to make a baby room if the baby wasn't going to be at the house often? "...Vhy?"

"Because _we _should get a bambino, too!"

And that was the exact moment that Ludwig Beilschmidt's brain stopped functioning.

* * *

Around the same time his little brother was having an emotional breakdown, Gilbert started to worry.

Because Ludwig had turned out great, yeah, but that wasn't entirely his doing, was it? Nah, that was partially the kid being a stick in the mud. Gilbert remembered more than a few instances where a tiny Ludwig had gotten annoyed at how irresponsible Gilbert was being, and a few where he had even taken care of the albino... mostly when he was drunk.

It woudn't be like that this time. He'd be the most awesome Vati ever.

* * *

A few weeks later, he found himself sitting in bed, his mind racing over something he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of before.

_Genetics._

... What if his kid looked like him? Things weren't as bad nowadays, of course, but people were still cruel.

The next morning, he went to the library- a surprise in itself- and grabbed anything he could on recessive genes, punnet squares and heredity.

* * *

Liz really wan't sure why Gilbert was reading a book on DNA, and it worried her. He'd never shown an interest in it before.

After seeing him pour over the book for more than an hour, she snatched it from his hands, looking at the page he was on.

_"Many recessive diseases and traits are 'sex-linked,' meaning they are more commonly prevalent in biological males than in females. _

_These traits may include, but are not limited to, hemophilia, color blindness, and ocular albinsim- ie, albinism only affecting the eye._

_Oculocutaneous albinism, however (albinism that affects both the eyes and other parts of the body, such as skin and hair) is an autosomal recessive disorder. This type of albinism comes from a recessive gene, being paired with another recessive gene. (see PUNNET SQUARE)"_

Elizaveta looked at the book, her brow furrowing in concern. "Gil..."

"Ze kid has a good chance of being normal, Liz! My genes might not fuck it up, since you don't have albinism in your system... Or you shouldn't. You don't, do you?"

"I don't know, Gilbert, but it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"It does, zough! The kid might be able to stay in ze sun as long as they vant! Get freckles, tan, have nice vision, be able to hear right! People von't zink zat zey're veird!"

Liz sighed. "Look, I get it- I mean, I don't really _get _it, but I know you're worried. I just don't think we_ should_ worry about it. Y'really think we'd let our kid miss out on anything?"

He looked at her, and groaned, brushing away his punnet squares, which were filled with theoretical DNA and alleles. "No, I know ve von't."

"And you know that if anyone treated our baby even a _fraction _of how you got treated as a kid, I'd kick their ass, right?"

"Of course. I'd join you."

"Good. So I can take this back to the library?"

He sighed, but nodded. "Ja."

"Do you have any more?"

He nodded again, went into their room and emerged with a large stack of books. "Here."

Eli was horrified at the sheer size of the pile- how much had her husband read on the subject? How worried had he been?-but she did her best not to show it.

They returned the books together.

* * *

Eli grew bigger and bigger, and Gil started to grow more and more excited.

They couple decided _not _to use Ludwig's old baby stuff, because it really _was _getting old, and it probably wasn't very safe.

The man found himself talking to the baby and patting it whenever he could. (And singing to it, much to Elizaveta's dismay.) He no longer poured over books on genetics, but books on babies and parenting. Liz had to chuckle at that- she'd never seen Gilbert so focused on something. Apparently Ludwig got his obsessive manual reading from his brother- the only difference was that Gilbert would read the advice or instructions, think about it for a while, then do the task whatever way he wanted, while Ludwig didn't budge from the instructions an inch.

Gilbert glared at the book. "Zat doesn't make any sense!" he moaned, tossing the book aside. "Zese books all say different zings!"

"Well, they're all by different authors, so they'll be about different things." she rifled through the covers, then picked out a few. "I liked these."

"You've been looking at zem?"

"Igen, I guess."

"Y'worried?"

She snorted. "Of course I am."

"You'll be a great Mutti, though. You did fine vith Feliciano- not like you got zat much help from Roddy."

She sighed and flopped down next to him. "I know, this just feels different. Feliciano was older when I started caring for him. We're starting from scratch on this little guy."

"Sure," he grinned, putting on a cocky grin, his worry fading, "But you have me now!"

She smirked. "I'm _so _relieved."

He lay a hand on her stomach, laughing. Suddenly they jumped, staring at each other.

"It kicked!"

* * *

Gilbert didn't really like hospitals. It was his absolute least favorite part of the pregnancy- the constant checkups and tests. He always got jittery.

But it was entirely worth all the nervousness the minute he had a picture of his baby. He couldn't tell the gender from the picture, which was fine- they'd asked the doctor not to reveal it yet, anyway. He'd shown it to everyone several times, until it got to the point where even _Antonio_ had said that, although he was thrilled for Gilbert and couldn't wait for the baby to come, he didn't need to be shown the same photo fourty-seven times.

* * *

Seven months along. Hungary was starting to waddle a little, her belly becoming large and distended. Morning sickness had dissipated long ago, and her strange cravings had toned down. Her back hurt constantly, not at all lessened by the baby's kicking, and she felt bloated.

Despite this, she refused to rest. She went on with her daily activities- including things like swimming- which terrified Gil more than he liked to admit.

He'd tell her to rest, and she'd always shoot back that she refused to just sit back and _wait_ for the baby to come.

After a while he realized it was best not to argue with her.

* * *

Nine months, and Gil was on pins and needles. Hungary seemed to be a bit nervous, as well, although she wasn't freaking out to the extent that he was.

And it only got worse once her water broke.

He started going everything they needed on the way to the hospital, barely realizing he was talking out loud.

"You got the bag?"

"In the trunk!"

"You're breathing, right?"

"_No_ Gilbert, I'm not_ breathing_."

"_Eli!_"

"Yes I'm fucking breathing!"

"Crib's ready?"

"_Yes_, Gilbert, Berwald set it up a while ago-" she gasped, a particularly bad contraction ripping through her. Gilbert gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"You okay? Do you need me to pull over or-"

"_Just keep driving and shut up."_

* * *

Gilbert practically grabbed Elizaveta when they got to the hospital, ignoring her protests that she could walk fine.

He cut to the front of the line at the ER, ignoring annoyed grumbles and shouts. The nurse admitting everyone was about to force him to the back of the line when he finally spit out, "She's in labor, she's going into labor!"

The woman's eyes widened and almost immediately, Lizzie was out in a wheelchair and whisked away.

"Vait!" Gilbert started to run after the nurses, but one of them, a man with blonde hair and a tired, kind face, pulled him aside.

"Right, so uh," he cleared his throat, "are you her husband, or the father of the child?"

"Ja! Ja to both, let me-"

He nodded, checking something off on a clipboard. "Okay, we're going to need you to suit up in scrubs and clean up your hand-"

"My hand?"

"Well, we can't have blood contaminating the area- we want it sterile as possible. Y'know, to prevent infection."  
Blood? He looked down at his hands, noticing that he had been digging his nails into his palms in nervousness, and that trails of blood were trickling through his fingers. He hadn't even noticed.  
"Oh... yeah, sure. Course."

The nurse chuckled. "First time, huh?"

"Huh?"

The younger man smiled. "First kid?"

"Oh- yeah, first kid." he was in a daze.

"I can tell. Don't worry, though, she's in good hands. Some've the best doctors are in there." he smiled, checking a clipboard. "I just gotta go through normal procedure. What's your name? Your wife?"

"Uh, Gilbert Beilschmidt, und Elizaveta Herdevary-"

"Different last names?"

"She didn't vant to change it."

The man nodded in understanding. "Alright then. My wife did the same thing- well, according to our friend. He doesn't seem to get my last name's not Pond..." The man was muttering now. They went over insurance information, blood types, stuff like that. The whole time Gilbert's brain was screaming- he had to get to Liz, this stupid nurse was going to make him miss the birth of his own child. "Alright, we're set. Anyone you want to call to let them know about your wife? We'd prefer not to have cell phones in the maternity ward."

"Oh!" his eyes widened and he nodded, finally coming to his senses. He grabbed his phone and dialed.

He heard a groan. "...Bruder it's three A.M.-"  
"Get your ass down here, Vest! Liz is having ze baby, und I don't zink it's gonna wait for its onkel to get here!"

Ludwig bolted out of bed. "Oh, Scheiße, I'm coming!"

"Get down here quick!"

"Ve'll be down as soon as we can, I just need to get Feliciano up-" he started to shake the redhead, who was busy snoring.

"Tell him zat if he doesn't get his ass over here, Roddy gets to be godfather!"

"_East-_"

"It'll get him moving, right?"  
"I'm not telling him zat, ve'll be zere soon, alright?"

"Ja, fine, good!"

He hung up, too nervous to care about being polite. He called Roderich next, knowing he'd bring Vash and Lili- who was very excited and was utterly convinced it would be a girl- then Feliks, mostly because he thought Liz would want him to. They were friends after all. The Pole said he'd be there as soon as he could- it would probably be a day or two, because of distance, but he instructed Gil to "Like, give Lizzie my love!"

Antonio and Francis were also called, but there was no way in hell that they were going to make it in time, and Gilbert knew that.

He hung up and looked for the nurse who had been talking to him. After a few minutes of searching, he found him. "Hey, Pond-"

"Williams."

"Williams, yeah, I'm done, I vant to see my vife now."

"Of course, let's just get you in scrubs, and, uh, we should be good. She's been yelling for a while."

* * *

The first thing Gilbert heard was cursing. Hungarian cursing.

German curses soon mingled with the Hungarian, especially once she had grabbed him and started to squeeze. He honestly didn't know if his arm could handle it.

"Alright," said a doctor, "You need to push!"

"_Nyomok én, seggfej!"_

Gilbert snorted, knowing just enough Hungarian to decipher what his wife had said to the unfortunate doctor. The grip on his arm grew tighter.

_"Verdammt, Eli, du wirst einen verdut ammten blauen Fleck verlassen!"_

_"Éppen a gyerekünket szülöm meg, úgyhogy ne merészelj egy kis zúzódás miatt panaszkodni, Beilschmidt!__"_

The doctors and nurses looked at the couple in confusion as they fought, a bit unsure of what to do. It was distracting Elizaveta from her pain, after all... But it was probably a good idea to stop the bickering.

"Alright we're gonna need you to calm down and focus on breathing."

Hungary glared at the nurse, but nodded and slowly began to breathe, more deeply and calmly. The pain was still awful.

"Alright, good. Now, we just need a few more pushes- I see a head!"

* * *

Prussia knew one thing for sure- he never wanted to go through Labor with Elizaveta again. The nurses were busy prepping the baby- tying the umbilical cord, cleaning it up, checking vital signs. They'd get to hold the child- a little girl- any minute now.

"My hand hurts."

Elizaveta just stared at him. "Your hand hurts."

"Ja."

"Gilbert, I just had a _baby_."

He chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, my hand doesn't hurt so much anymore... So... names." Somehow, they hadn't really discussed names. "Anyzing you vere zinking?"

"I like Matild, personally. Were you thinking of anything?"

"Uh, yeah, I vas zinking Fernanda? Fern for sort. It means adventurous. I dunno, I kinda liked it.'

"Fern..." Hungary sat up a bit more, thinking. "Not bad. Fernanda Matild?"

He grinned. "Perfect."

A minute or two later, one of the nurses came up and put the baby, all swaddled up in pink, into her mother's arms.

The girl had tufts of light, mousy brown hair and a few freckles spattered her nose and cheeks. She was a bit small, but healthy looking, with healthy pink skin and red eyes.

Red eyes. Surprisingly enough, Gil didn't feel any dread or sadness at this- the kid was perfect, why would he be upset? As long as it didn't hurt her...

"Ocular albinism," the nurse said, clearing her throat. "It's not too much of a surprise- it would have made sense for her to be full albino, as well. I'm sure you understand that she may have very sensitive eyes-"

"Vhat about skin?" Gilbert asked, finally looking away from his daughter. "Hearing problems, sunburns...?"

"No, not at all. She may have trouble reading things, crossed eyes, bad vision and sensitivity to light, but that's all."

He nodded, then looked at the baby and smiled. "Liz, can I...?"

She smiled and nodded, handing Fern over to her father.

"Hey zhere, Fern," the baby looked at him with large eyes, eyes that were already starting to droop from the exhaustion of being born. "I'm your Vati, and this is your Mutti," he turned the baby so she was facing Liz again, "and this is nurse, uh..."

"Krysiak," the woman supplied.

"Nurse Krysiak, alzough I guess zat desn't really matter since ve von't really be seeing her again." he smiled, watching the infant start to fall asleep. "Und you have so many people vaiting for you! Onkel Ludvig and onkel Feli and your cousin Roddy and Lili- Lili's going to be so excited to see you- and even Vash, I know he's excited, even if he doesn't zink he is, und Feliks, who'll probably get you so much pink stuff zat you von't believe it ind Anto-"

"Gilbert, she's asleep," Hungary yawned, starting to fall asleep herself. Nurse Krysiak had left by now, needing to help the doctor's fill out a few legal documents.

"Oh," he looked down at the sleeping face of the baby.

"You-" she yawned yet again, cutting herself off. "You alright?"

"Hmm? Ja, of course I am."

She smiled. "Good. C'mere, I wanna hold my baby."

"Vhich vone?" he laughed, making sure his voice was at a whisper.

Liz rolled her eyes. "Guess."

He handed her the child, then climbed into bed with her.

"_Gilbert..._"

"Vhat?"

"I-" she yawned yet again, then decided that she was far too tired to argue. "Never mind."

Before they knew it, the new parents had fallen asleep as well, breathing in time with their child.

* * *

**TRANSLATIONS- EDITED- I need to find a better translating website, apparently google translate sucks. Thank you so much to Lothlorien93 for fixing my language mistakes. I'll find a better translator website. ^^'**

**Igen- yes, yeah**

**Nyomok én, seggfej!- I****_ am_**** fucking pushing, jackass!**

**Verdammt, Eli, du wirst einen verdammten blauen Fleck verlassen!- God damn it, Eli, you're going to leave a fucking bruise!**

**Éppen a gyerekünket szülöm meg, úgyhogy ne merészelj egy kis zúzódás miatt panaszkodni, Beilschmidt! -****I am pushing a ****_baby_**** out of me, don't you fucking complain about a bruise, Beilschmidt!**

**Yeah, this was sappy and fluffy and I didn't know how to end it- sorry. **

**(And, if anyone's curious, Feli and Ludwig end up trying to figure out how to get a kid, and they get one, eventually. It's just a lot more complicated since they can't have kids genetically)**

**So, uh, yeah, I know this chapter's not great, but I kind of thought that fluff would be nice.**


	8. In Which the Author Speaks

**Not to worry, I won't be deleting this story, or abandoning it, I just have a few questions. **

**1. Is there anything anyone wants to see from this story specifically? **

**2. Does anyone know a reliable language translator website? I feel really bad that I keep butchering Hungarian and German, since I don't speak them, and google translate doesn't seem to be that great. Any other suggestions? I'll delete this later, I just wanted to know. Thanks!**


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